Scope and Contents of the Materials

This collection consists entirely of photocopies of the day books of William E. Stephens and letters, diaries, tax receipts, and other documents relating to Alice Stephens Owens. The diaries record family events, the weather, vacation trips, and daily activities.

Collection Historical Note

William Edwin Stephens was born October 24, 1856. He and his first wife, Sarah Jane Potts, had seven children, including Alice Stephens Owens. After Sarah Jane died, William married Ellen Wilson with whom he had seven more children. Stephens died January 4, 1930.

Alice Stephens was born August 24, 1883. She married Earnest Owens in 1907. Earnest died in an accident while working with the Texas Pipe Line Company on June 8, 1923, leaving Alice a widow with several small children. Alice Stephens Owens lived in Joaquin, Shelby County, Texas, where she died at the age of 96, leaving a large number of descendants.

Box and Folder Listing

Includes tax receipts, oil and gas lease document, correspondence with the Texas Industrial Accident Board following the death of Earnest, documents relating to the estate of Alice's brother, Thomas Potts Stephens

Folder 4: Letters and other papers of Alice Owens, 1917-1976

Correspondence with her brother, Thomas Potts Stephens:

during his service in World War I in France and Germany (1917-1919)

when he worked for oil companies in Columbia and Venezuela (1922-1927):